LOS ANGELES — Rams second-year receiver Puka Nacua left a joint practice against the Chargers a little over an hour in, following a series of 11-on-11s against the Chargers’ defense. Nacua stayed on the sideline in full uniform and wore his helmet. He had a bag of ice around his right knee.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay said after practice he was “not sure” what happened to Nacua, who blossomed into a star on a young roster in 2023. He had no further update. The Rams have Monday off, then will practice at their old facilities in Thousand Oaks, Calif., starting Tuesday.
The injury bug has bitten the team hard so far into August. Starting cornerback Darious Williams is week-to-week with a hamstring injury, while backup cornerback Derion Kendrick suffered a season-ending torn ACL as training camp began. Williams got a workout on the sideline with athletic trainers but did not practice.
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Three starting offensive linemen are week-to-week: Left guard Jonah Jackson (shoulder), left tackle Alaric Jackson (ankle) and right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle). It was a positive sign for Alaric Jackson’s progress that he was in attendance at Sunday’s practice, though not dressed to participate.
Playing backups at those positions, including Joe Noteboom, Zach Thomas and Warren McClendon Jr., was a challenge Sunday against a group of Chargers outside linebackers that includes Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa (who left practice gingerly with an athletic trainer after some contact in the final period), Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree.
“I think they are doing as well as they can, I think there is a lot of learning right now,” said McVay, who was visibly frustrated after practice. “I think that any time you go against a front like this, it’s a great challenge. And there (are) no excuses. We might not have ‘our guys’ throughout the course of the season. We were able to stay relatively healthy last year, and then we saw what it looked like the year before — that is not going to be an excuse for us.”
The Rams’ first- and second-team offenses had issues with protection up front. Ball security was also a problem. Batted and tipped passes led to two Matthew Stafford interceptions, and running back Blake Corum fumbled on a carry when the ball was punched out by Alohi Gilman and the Chargers recovered.
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“It was up and down a little bit,” Stafford said. “They did a nice job. They got their hands up at the line of scrimmage a couple of times. Tipped balls in this league don’t hit the ground. It was a nice job by them; we had some good creases in the run game.”
The Chargers forced three turnovers (split between the Rams’ first- and second-team offenses) in the opening team period alone. The highlight for the Rams of that period was a one-handed catch from tight end Colby Parkinson, but Stafford may have been sacked in a live situation (and he faced pressure all day, including at least two red zone period sacks, one after which Stafford was intercepted).
Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense struggled with turnovers against the Chargers on Sunday. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
Stafford and receiver Cooper Kupp couldn’t quite find their typical sideline or end zone connection on deeper concepts, but they got going in two-minute and game-ending situations on quick passes. Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton (who also had an interception late in the day off a tipped ball) had good coverage on back-to-back plays first deep down the left sideline first against Kupp (who was ruled out of bounds at the catch point by the sideline referee) and then as a part of a tandem defending Nacua.
McVay said the Rams have “a lot of things to learn from” on offense after the practice. He stayed with the offense on the third field for all team drills, which were broken up by special teams periods in the middle of the three fields at the Chargers’ new facility in El Segundo, Calif. The first- and second-team Rams defense faced the Chargers’ first- and second-team offense on the first field.
“We had too many turnovers, way too many offensively today. … You have to have some, ‘patience’ is not something that I’m very familiar with, as you know,” McVay said. “But I think there is an understanding of, ‘let’s keep building,’ especially if you have got some guys getting reps for the first time based on some people that we do have out. …
“What I am interested in is guys improving every single day, and I think a lot of guys have done that. Sometimes it has been a little bit halted with some position groups, because of the injuries that we have sustained. Again, that’s not going to be an excuse for me. Our job is to be able to get this roster ready to go, and we’re going to continue to focus on that. Make no mistake about it, some of the things I saw particularly offensively — got way higher standards than what we looked like today consistently, down in and down out.”
I stayed with the offense on Sunday to better understand the group against real competition and will move to defense during the second practice with the Chargers later this month. As a reminder, the Rams’ rules for credentialed media prohibit reporting of schemes, specific play-by-play or anything they feel is a competitive advantage.
More observations and notes:
• All three Rams tight ends — Parkinson, Davis Allen and Hunter Long — were extremely active in 11-on-11s with both the first- and second-team offenses. Whether rotating with each other or combining forces, the tight ends continue to be a bright spot. McVay and the Rams may need to take a long look at this group if they are missing either their offensive linemen, or Nacua, or all of the above for a significant amount of time. When Stafford and the first-team offense finally did get into the end zone in the red zone period, it was off a throw to Allen amid heavy contact.
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• After Nacua left practice, several receivers rotated into the 11-on-11 period including veteran Tyler Johnson, rookie Jordan Whittington, second-year former undrafted free agent Xavier Smith and fourth-year player Tutu Atwell. Whittington showed enthusiasm for getting involved in some of the group’s blocking assignments.
• Much focus from some team personnel at practice was on second-year lineman McClendon, who filled in for injured veteran Havenstein. McClendon drew a tough assignment in the first meaningful practice snaps of his career — he faced a rotation of Mack and Bosa, or sometimes both loaded up on his side among others. The day was a mixed bag for McClendon, who drew praise after some pass-protection reps. After one of these, Stafford got the ball to Kupp downfield. Overall, pressure got to Stafford frequently off either side of the line. Sacks are a bit subjective when the quarterback can’t get hit, but in comparing notes with my colleague Daniel Popper (the Chargers beat reporter), the defense got to Stafford at least five times.
• Rookie defensive tackle Braden Fiske had to get care for a blister on his foot that McVay said was the size of the space between the base of his hand to the tip of his index finger.
• The Rams practiced the new kickoff for the first time against an opponent, between team periods on Sunday. McVay said it “just feels weird.”
“It doesn’t look like anything I have been familiar with with football,” he said. “I know the intent is right, and we’ll try to figure it out. … It’s a very foreign-looking play. Ultimately, however we feel about it, we’ve got to be able to adjust and make sure that we adapt and that it’s something that can be an advantage to us.”
McVay added he doesn’t believe that teams will show many of their ideas for the kickoff in the preseason games themselves. The Rams scheduled four joint practices with various teams in part to work through it without putting anything on tape.
• Rookie kicker Josh Karty was four-for-four on his end-of-game field goals, which moved him from hash to hash and increased in distance (32 yards, 39 yards, 44 yards, and about 50 yards or a little higher).
• As is typical for a third-string quarterback, Stetson Bennett got very few snaps on Sunday. However, when he did get a series he threw a strike up the left hash to rookie undrafted free-agent receiver J.J. Laap.
• Outside linebacker Brennan Jackson did not practice but got a workout on the side of the field beforehand with athletic trainers.
(Top photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
